Contaminated land

ALS delivers a wide range of expert services to the remediation and site investigation markets.

Brownfield and contaminated land represents both possibilities and challenges. The obvious possibility is to develop such areas into residential zones. The challenges are that contaminants from the land may migrate and end up in water sources, contaminate the surrounding air, or otherwise negatively affect plants and other living organisms. Moreover, before the contaminated land can be utilised for residential purposes, contaminants need to be removed.

The role of a laboratory is to help assessing the level and type of contaminants in the area and surroundings. ALS has extensive experience in the field of analysis of soil contaminants, such as petroleum hydrocarbons, pesticides and heavy metals, but also in the field of soil quality; looking at organic content, nutrients and grain size.

Throughout the world there are many different national and local legislations that companies will have to comply with. Typically, the legislation will dictate how to sample, what contaminants to test for, and guideline values for the contaminants. For more information on your local regulations, contact an ALS Project Manager at the nearest ALS environmental laboratory.

The local client service staff will be happy to assist you choosing tests that comply with the local legislations or to help you evaluate results toward guideline values.